Clarke Community School Board sets 2015 legislative priorities

Published: Wednesday, July 23, 2014 9:11 a.m. CDT

Clarke School Board set its legislative priorities for the 2015 session of the Iowa Legislature at the July15 school board meeting.

Clarke School Board participated this year in the Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB) legislative policy process by talking about the impact of state policy on the district and voting on legislative resolutions for the next legislative session. Each school board prioritizes up to five resolutions.

The school board determined that the following priorities for 2015 are critical to students and taxpayers in the school district:

• Supports continued progress in the development of rigorous content standards and benchmarks consistent with the Iowa Core focused on improving student achievement.

• Supports continuation of sufficient incentives and assistance to encourage sharing, reorganization or regional high schools to expand academic learning opportunities for students and to improve student achievement.

• Supports reform of Iowa’s K-12 education system that is research-based, focused on student achievement, includes comprehensive assessments to measure the full range and rigor of the Iowa Core, maintains oversight and control by locally elected boards of directors, does not “repurpose” existing education funds and does not impose new mandates unless they are fully funded.

• Supports setting supplemental state aid (replaces the term allowable growth) by the date specified in the Iowa Code at a rate that encourages continuous school improvement and reflects actual cost increases experienced by school districts and AEAs. The priority is to increase the state cost per pupil and the spending authority associated with it to build a strong base for future education resources.

• Supports the repeal of the mandatory school start date.

The grassroots IASB legislative process involves all school board members in Iowa. Together, school leaders make a difference. Resolutions submitted by school districts will be reviewed by the IASB Board of Directors before being debated and adopted by the IASB Delegate Assembly at its annual meeting on Nov. 19 in Des Moines.